"On Saturday, the 23rd of May 2009 the 15th WestLicht Photographica Auction was ended successfully. Regardless of the recent economical situation, this auction was able to hold the high standards of previous auctions both in total turnover as well as the percentage of sold lots.

The most spectacular lot of the auction was an original Leica M4 olive for the Germany Army which went for more than double the high estimate â€š it was sold for unbelievable 87,600 EUR! The next lot of equal exclusivity was the presumably earliest Leica M3 pre-model ever built which also was able to realize a fantastic result of 72,000 EUR. Generally speaking the prices for Leicas and accessories were very solid and very often estimates were considerably exceeded â€š for example a MP chrome was hammered for 14,400 EUR, a M1 olive went for 13,800 EUR and a I C Non Standard outfit was sold for 12,600 EUR.

This time hand-selected Japanese cameras were also at a premium with many achieving record prices. Amongst others, an almost mint Nikon I found a new owner for 27,000 EUR, and a black painted Nikon SP and a black painted Nikon S2 were both sold for 8,400 EUR.

One of the few early NASA modified 500 EL/M went for 18,000 EUR and also the historic cameras were able to establish remarkable results. Next to a very rare Meopta Pankopta (15,000 EUR) and a beautiful Sigriste Stereo (16.800 EUR) we sold two exceptional Dallmeyer cameras: the Universal Sliding Box Camera from c.1870 went for 15,000 EUR and the Naturalist Tropical Reflex dating from c.1910 for 11,400 EUR."